Can We Keep Him?
by The Twi-Tard
Summary: "Mom," Quinn said tugging on my hand. I slowly turned to him and he gave a sweet smile. "Can we keep him?" I turned back to the bum and he smiled sheepishly. "Can we?" AU,AH,M Bella's son Quinn has taken a liking to a surly bum,will Bella let him stay until he gets on his feet and maybe a little while after?
1. Epov:Kid

A/N: If you decide to go on and read, thanks. Chapters will vary in length, and updates will occur sporadically because this is just something I pulled from my head, and inspiration strikes only every so often. This is also not beta'd.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognized characters belong to their respective owners.

* * *

I awoke slowly to a gnawing pain in my stomach. This, the empty feeling in my belly, wasn't an unusual occurrence. The hollowness and its companion, thirst, where a very prominent presence in my life. It had been a few days, a week tops, since I had eaten something proper to sooth the aching hunger. I'd gone longer with little to no food before, but the constant growling made me realize just how fucking starving I really was. I longed for something fresh, warm, a decent meal for once, but I knew that the dumpsters and trash bins in the alleyways couldn't offer me that luxury.

The best places for me to get semi-fresh food was behind the restaurants. The only problem there, was sometimes I had to fend off pissy stray cats and the occasional knife wielding chef.

I pulled myself up and slinked through the alley to the local Mexican place where I knew I would find several trash cans and a big dump. Some pretentious prick who didn't like a dish was bound to send a plate back and have it thrown out and into my awaiting grubby hands.

I glanced furtively at the large steel door, making sure that no one would be coming to watch me rummage through their garbage and scanning the alley for anything valuable in the surrounding trash bags. My mouth watered slightly from the smells coming from the place but I ignored it and continued searching. Just as I spotted what seemed to be a half eaten enchilada, the door swung open to reveal a large mocha skinned women...and surprise, surprise she was wielding a very sharp knife. I never understood why it was that chefs went to their back door brandishing cutlery, wasn't that unsanitary?

She was screeching at me in a mix of Spanish and English.

"¡Oh, Dios mira qué sucio! Leave here now!"

_'Oh god look how dirty!'_

I had a scar that ran under my jaw that was testimony to the fact that I learned the hard way. Trying to argue or explaining my situation only proved to make the irritated more angry. My problems didn't mean shit to them, all they knew was that some dirty bum was digging in their trash. I lost my dignity a long time ago when I became so hungry I couldn't even see straight, almost attacking a scrawny man who'd been eating a scone outside of a coffee shop.

I darted out of the ally, knowing full well that because of her size she wouldn't even attempt to follow me. Why would she anyway. I wasn't anything worth it,just street scum rummaging in her _much-needed_ trash.

I could lie and say I kept running until I hit the beach, but the undernourished state that my body was in didn't allow me to. So I stumbled along until I hit the beach, which was an easy feat when you lived in south Miami. Finding refuge under a palm tree I sank to my knees in the sand. I felt dizzy from pushing my body with no sustenance and my mouth was dry from the constant muggy heat that Florida provided.

No one paid me any mind, it was a weekday so the only people out here were tourist marveling at the beautiful beach.

It was like I was invisible, except for the side glances that some of the passing children would give me until their parents pulled them along. I guess I was invisible, I was just an unwarranted eyesore to their vacation that didn't require recognition.

A hefty little boy passed by with his arms full of junk food, chips, sodas, and candy that seemed to be his choice for lunch at the beach. As I eyed the food my stomach let out a low rumble. I hunched over closing my eyes and groaned pressing my back into the rough bark to distract myself from the pang.

"Excuse me. Hey, mister." The voice was high, that of a young little boy. I looked up expecting to see the fat kid , maybe offering me a bag of chips,but instead found myself staring into the biggest brown eyes I'd ever seen. The kid's blonde hair was falling into his face, and he pursed his lips to blow it out of his eyes.

"What do you want kid." I asked sourly glancing over his shoulder and searching for his parents. Surely they wouldn't want their child associating with the likes of me.

"Well... what do _you_ want?" he countered.

I stared at him for a moment, wondering if he was playing with me, but his big doe eyes showed no hint of amusement.

Again I looked around to spot the caretakers for this brave little boy, but didn't see anyone rushing over to pull him away by the ear.

"Listen kid, go find your parents or somthi-" I started but the growling of my stomach cut me off.

He shifted his feet and held a hand out to me.

"I can give you something to eat if you want." he offered, with an innocence and sincerity that only a child could muster.

I thought for a second. It felt wrong to say yes, like I was taking advantage of the little boys naïvety but the thought of finally having something warm in my stomach after rancid or no food for a week overpowered the feeling.

I stood on wobbly legs but steadied myself with a hand on the bark. I was so tall the boy had to tilt his chin to stare up at me.

"Alright kid," I said conceding to his offer. "lead the way."


	2. Epov:How Early?

A/N: This is not beta'd. Sorry.

Disclaimer:I don't own anything, except for the lovely Quinn.

* * *

Hunger was a basic survival instinct. It muddles your thinking so things like common sense just didn't matter until _after _your stomach is filled. I was so focused on the fact that this kid was going to give me food that I really didn't think or care about much else.

It didn't strike me as odd that the boy was walking up to strangers to offer them a meal, it didn't bother me when he grabbed my dirty hand and towed me across the beach to one of the hotels that lined the shore, and I sure as hell didn't care that receptionist at the desk snootily asked the boy who his new friend was and if his mother knew about me. Quickly he dismissed her as he dragged me along to the elevators, telling her that I was a friend of his mothers and that I'd picked him up from school. I didn't notice before that he was wearing a uniform from a local elementary school, and had his backpack slung over his shoulder.

I could tell that in the small enclosed space of the elevator, my smell was starting to bother him and was becoming a bit too much. He shifted a bit away from me, but still kept a firm hold on my hand like I was going to bolt any second.

As if.

The promise of food was too great.

We stopped at the third floor and the kid pulled me down the hotel hallway until we reached the second to last door, slipping a card key from his pocket he let me inside finally dropping my hand.

"You live in a hotel?" I asked. The only reason I asked was because the placed looked so _lived in_. There were toys scattered around in the living room the couch cushions were thrown in the middle of the room resembling some sort of fort. To the right of the living room there was a small hallway with two doors that I assumed was a bed room and a bath, a small kitchenette with a mini stove,a sink , microwave, and a fridge was to your left as you walked in. To the right of the living room was a door which I guessed was the master suite.

"Yea," he said dropping his bag beside the door. I stood awkwardly in the doorway as he walked into the kitchenette.

He pointed to the table and asked me to sit. So I sat.

While he rummaged through the fridge for a little I wondered if I should make conversation, but just as I opened my mouth he found what he was looking for. A big tub of left over spaghetti.

Pulling a plate from the single cabinet he piled it high and placed it into the microwave. The smell of oregano, meat sauce and tomatoes immediately caused my stomach to growl and my mouth to water.I was already imagining how the hot noodles would feel as they hit my empty stomach, the sauce soothing the ache that never seemed to disappear.

I licked my cracked dry lips in anticipation.

The kid was busying him self with poring a bowl of frosted flakes and milk for himself when the phone rang.

He dropped what he was doing and picked up the phone off of its cradle. He pressed the speaker button, making both ends of the conversation audible for me so that he could continue fixing his bowl.

"_Hello?"_said a feminine voice from the line.

"Hey, mom." the boy answered, putting his bowl at the table and going back to fetch me the now heated spaghetti.

As soon as he placed it in front of me with a fork I dug in, eating like the food was going to vanish from the plate. I groaned lowly, whoever made this was amazing. I had never tasted spaghetti this good, it was either that or I was so fucking hungry my taste buds made it taste amazing. I haven't had a home cooked meal in what seemed like forever.

"_Hey sweetie how was your day at school today?"_

"It was okay. Nothing really special happened except for when Cora caught a frog with a broken leg out at recess and gave it to me." he smiled.

"_Ew,"_ his mother squealed laughing._ "I hope you didn't bring it home."_

There was a long pause.

"_You didn't bring it home, did you Quinn?" _she suddenly sounded tired, as if this wouldn't be out of character for him.

I guess this kid, _Quinn, _had some sort of hero complex. Well it would explain why I was here at his table, licking spaghetti sauce off one of his plates.

'Juice?' he mouthed.

I nodded eagerly and pushed my now clean plate towards him.

He brought the plate back to the kitchen and answered his mother. "No I didn't bring it home, Miss Angie wouldn't let me take it into the classroom." he pouted.

"_Thank goodness." _she sighed._ "I left some leftover spaghetti in the fridge,you eating it?"_

"Uhh yea... I'm eating it right now." he glanced at me and giggles a little as he poured me punch.

"_Oh okay,honey. I was calling to let you know that I got off early."_

Quinn almost dropped the phone and the punch when she said that.

"Early?" he squeaked. "How early?" His face would have been comical if I didn't think that his mother would probably call the police on me if she found me here. Alone. With her young son.

"_I should be coming up in a few minutes._" she answered brightly.

"Shit." I cursed under my breath. There was no time for me to leave.

"Oh! Okay mom see you then!"

"_Quinn, are you al-"_ Quinn hurriedly hung up the phone and placed it back on the cradle,he pored the fruit punch down the sink and I was momentarily sad to see it go.

"You have to hide." he frantically pointed out the obvious as if I didn't already know.

"Yea no kidding, but where?" I glanced around the room, there wasn't much of a selection for a grown man to hide.

He thought for a moment, pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes. He lit up when he figured out a place.

"My mom's bathroom."

I looked at him skeptically. "I don't think that's such a good idea, kid."

"Its perfect," he insisted. "There's been something wrong with the plumbing in there so she's been using mine. C'mon"

He pushed me out of the chair and to the master suite, I didn't have much time to look at the surroundings as he pushed me into the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

"Be really quiet okay?" he said through the door, as if I would suddenly start making noise.

"Hey, honey? _Quinn!_ Where are you?" When I heard her voice I jumped into the shower and closed the curtain, as if it would give me more cover.

"_Jeez_, mom don't have a cow." I heard Quinn say as he stepped out of the room to greet his mother.

I slid down, and let my head fall back against the blue tile.

Jesus-fucking-christ. What the hell was I doing here? How the hell had I gotten myself into this situation? My stomach had the nerve to growl reminding me that it was his fault and that he was still hungry.

I was so stupid, what exactly had I thought would happen? The kid would give me food and I'd be on my marry way, sleeping on the beach again? No things in my life never went that simply. I should have known something like this would happen.

"Mom, where are you going?" Quinn's nervous tone broke through my thoughts.

"To take a shower?" she said confused.

"But I thought your plumbing was broken, or whatever."

"Yea it was, but they called to tell me that Jacob had fixed it." she was in the bathroom now, I knew because even though the solid color of the shower curtain inhibited me from seeing Quinn's mother her voice was closer.

"I'm going to shower okay honey? After that we can work on your homework."

"Mom, wait don't-" but it was too late. Quinn's mother pulled back the shower curtain and when she saw me she screamed. Loud.

I was momentarily shocked by how pretty the woman was, even with her hair in a sloppy bun, tendrils falling into her scared face. I didn't now why but I had assumed that Quinn's mom was an overweight women who was thirty but really looked forty. This woman was young and stunningly beautiful.

I watched her in rapt fascination as she reached for the plunger at the side of the toilet, ready to hit me, Quinn rushed in and tried to pry it from her grasp but she just snatched it back.

"Stand up!" she commanded waving the plunger dangerously close to my face.

Slowly I stood, keeping my hands outstretched in a defensive pose. The grip she had on the plunger was pretty tight, and I knew that if she wanted to she'd break the thing over my head.

She was still staring at me and gauging my facial expression when Quinn tugged at her empty hand.

"Mom," Quinn said tugging. She ripped her eyes away from me and slowly turned to her son, he gave her a small smile. "Can we keep him?"

I was caught off guard at first by his request but if she said yes, who was I to pass up a comfortable place to sleep.

She turned her brown eyes back to me, and I could tell that that's where her kid got them from. I offered and embarrassed smile of my own to the women. "Can we?" I repeated.


	3. Bpov:Attached

A/N: This is not beta'd.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

**Bpov:**

"Mom," Quinn said tugging on my hand. I slowly turned to him and he gave a sweet smile. "Can we keep him?" I turned back to the bum and he smiled sheepishly. "Can we?" he asked, repeating my son's words.

I snorted in disbelief. This is not happening. I had a long day and I probably fell asleep in the employees lounge and was dreaming all of this.

Yea that had to be it because there was no way there was a bum in my shower right now.

I honestly thought this until his smell hit me. My nose wrinkled as his stench overpowered the strawberry scent that _usually permeated _my bathroom. There was no way my mind was creative enough to create something _that_ foul.

Sighing dejected that this was reality, I dropped the plunger and rubbed my forehead as I felt the beginnings of a headache.

I had a feeling Quinn was hiding something when I spoke to him on the phone, I just thought he was lying about not bringing the injured frog home.

_'Why couldn't it have just been the fucking frog?' _I thought to myself.

Eying the man in my shower I could tell that he was homeless, his hair resembled a giant tangled copper wire sitting on his head, his beard tangled and knotted just the same. His face was dirty, his ripped cloths smelled horrid, and his finger nails had black gunk sitting underneath them from digging through god knows what. Glancing back at Quinn I could tell that sending this man on his way would break his heart.

Quinn was undeniably compassionate, especially for a boy who was only seven years old. Sometimes I wondered if it was because he felt that people should give others a chance, unlike what his father did for him.

Quinn knew his dad, he'd seen him briefly the times when I had let Mike back in, but Mike didn't have a fatherly bone in his body, it seemed like he just wasn't made for it. Getting married to Mike straight out of high school seemed like a great idea at the time, we thought we were in love. But I watched as our short-term marriage fell violently apart when I had Quinn. There were problems between us that we weren't able to resolve.

And I knew for a _fact_ that none of them had to do with Quinn.

I loved Quinn with all my heart, he was my life, but it was times like these where I wished he didn't care _that_ damn much about everyone.

"Quintin," I started, using his full name.

"Oh no, mom please! Don't kick him out. He looked really bad when I found him, like he was about to die or something. Please just let him stay til' Saturday night mom, please."

I had just come home from work at the hotels restaurant, and later tonight I'd be working in the lounge as a bartender. Tomorrow I'd start the same routine over again, and Sunday was my day off. It was the only way that I could afford living here, and since I worked here I got a discount on the room.

I couldn't help but be worried about leaving my baby here with a dirty stranger that I'd never met. For all I knew he could be Hannibal Lecter.

"I'm not going to chop your kid up and eat him if that's what your worried about." The man let out a deep chuckled and I shivered. I didn't know if it was because I was creeped out that he seemed to know what I was thinking, or because I liked how deep and rich his voice was...

"Mommy please. He's harmless." Quinn said, pouting his full lips and widening his big brown eyes. The ones he got from_ me._

"That's not fair." I huffed at him.

He just kept on pouting.

"Miss," the man called my attention. I looked at him and was instantly ensnared by his striking green eyes. Before when I had reacted to seeing him I didn't notice anything beyond that fact that he was dirty and that I didn't know him. Now that I was calmer, it took all I had not to blurt out that his eyes were probably the most beautiful shade green I'd ever seen.

"Your kid, over there helped me out today. I wouldn't do anything to hurt him." The sincerity in his voice made me want to trust him.. but I just didn't know.

"Mom."

I cast a brief look at Quinn and could see that he was barely containing a smile, the dimple on his left cheek beginning to deepen.

"Fine." I said throwing up my hands in defeat. "Only until tomorrow night."

I turned to the man and gave him the most feral stare I could muster. "If you even so much as look at him the wrong way while I'm not here, _I_ will chop _you_ up and eat you." I promised.

The man shifted, and I hope I had made him uncomfortable.

"Now please, get out." I pinched my nose and waved him out.

He scrambled to get out of my tub but before he left he said a quick thank you, and then followed Quinn out the door.

* * *

I was starting to freak out, I had less then a few minutes to get down to the lounge to work and I kept staring at the man on the pullout-couch from my room, trying to gauge from his sleeping form whether or not he was a threat to Quinn.

Quinn informed me that while I'd been in the shower, that he showed the man his classic model car collection and the man offered to build a real one from scratch with him one day.I didn't really know how I felt about that.

He also told me that he was good at math so man had helped him with his homework so there was no need for my assistance.

That kind of hurt, I was no good at math but I tried to help him as much as I could. I knew he didn't mean it that way though.

Quinn's sudden liking to this man was a dangerous thing, I didn't want him to get attached which is why I only offered to let him stay till tomorrow night. If Quinn got too attached to this man...it could get ugly.

"Mom," Quinn whispered peeking his head out from the hall way that lead to his room.

I gave him a 'What is it' face and he frantically motioned for me to come over to him. It seemed like to him that I was moving too slow, because when I got to him he let out an annoyed huff.

He's so cute.

"Why are you still here? Your going to be late!" he whisper yelled.

I had to cover my mouth to hide my laughter. He was acting like my dad.

"I'm sorry honey but I'm not sure if I should leave you alone with him. We don't know him." I reasoned. On the one hand I guess it would be nice for Quinn to have some company, on the days where I worked back to back like this he was alone, the only pressing issue was that we didn't know him or what he was capable of.

He rolled his eyes. "Mom, I'm fine. If he tries anything, _which he wont_, I have the pocket knife Grandpop Charlie gave me."

I hesitated, I would have to talk to my dad about that.

"Ok," I glanced back at the man skeptically "just call me if you need anything alright?" I bent down and kissed him on the top of his head.

"Yea, yea." he replied pecking me on the cheek.

"And don't stay up too late. I know its Friday but still." I said making my way towards the door, purse in hand.

"Okay, okay."

"Love you,Quinn." I was halfway through the door.

"Love you too, Mom." he said, giving a small wave as I shut the door behind me.


	4. Epov:My name is Mary Jane

A/N: I'm giving this chapter to you guys a little bit earlier because I wont be able to reach my computer later. Enjoy :)

This is not beta'd

Disclaimer: I don't anything.

*by the way '_Po' tesoro'_ is loosely translated to 'little treasure'. Its an Italian endearment that a mother might use for her child.

* * *

_PewPewPewPewPewPewPewPewPew! _

"Uhhhg," I groaned and shifted, feeling disoriented.

_PewPewPew!_

'_What the hell is _that_?'_ I whined internally. I could see the yellow sunlight behind my closed eyelids, though for some reason it didn't feel as hot on the beach as it usually did...

It actually felt like a well air-conditioned area.

I shifted again and noticed that the abnormally soft sand didn't shift with me.

_PewPewPew!_

I opened my eyes to investigate the source of the agitating sound, and shot up panicking when I saw the unfamiliar room. Where the hell was I?

_Quinn_

It all came rushing back to me at once, and I collapsed back on the bed closing my eyes. Quinn, and his mom...

She let me stay.

I couldn't believe that she actually let me stay alone with her son _again. _Quinn an his mother were some of the kindest people I ever met and even though I didn't want to admit it their charity meant a lot to me. Taking charity was not something I was fond of, begging was something I never did. I foraged for myself with out the help of others and I typically liked it that way but I had to say I was grateful to Quinn and his beautif- ahh.. his _nice_ mother.

I pressed my face into the mattress, there wasn't really much I could do to thank them but I tried.

The last thing I remembered was helping out Quinn with him math homework. After he'd shown me a shelf of his model cars I'd reminded him his mother had said something about homework and he reluctantly sat down with me and we worked on his math together. I guess I fell asleep while he was trying to work out a problem.

It took him forever to do problems. After the third time of me doing a problem for him I caught on to his little trick, he thought if he waited long enough I'd do it for him.

He was a smart kid.

_PewPewPew!_

_'That damn noise!'  
_

I cracked an eye open again and jumped , a pair of big brown eyes were laying close to my face scaring the fucking shit out of me.

"Holy shit kid, don't do-"

"Hey," he said, cutting me off. "no cursing." In his hand he held a plastic toy gun, pressing the trigger made the gun shoot an artificial yellow light and emitted a _PewPewPew, _noise.

Well I guess that wasn't the fucking sun, and it explained the noise. It seemed that he decided crawling up next to me and pointing a fake gun to my face was a good way to get me up

I roughly ran my hand over my face to rouse myself further.

"Sorry," I yawned. He threw me a smile, as if I'd please him to no end. It was contagious because I felt my lips sleepily pull up of they're own accord.

"What, kid?"

"Its time to get up, Mr... hey what _is_ your name?" he furrowed his brow.

I pulled myself up on my elbows and stared down at him, he was waiting patiently for my answer and I had a feeling he'd keep bugging me until I gave it.

I was right because after awhile of me not answering he began to bounce up and down on the mattress, causing me to go up and down with it. I tried to wait him out, foolishly thinking that he'd get bored quickly but he was a persistent little thing. His bounces only increased in tempo, in turn making me bounce higher.

"What's your name?" he asked again, still hopping up and down.

"Mary Jane." I smirked.

"That." _bounce_ "Is." _bounce_ "A." _bounce_ "Girls."_ bounce_ "Name."_ bounce_

I just smiled.

"Fine_ Mary Jane_, don't tell me your name. I will get it out of you, but you've gotta get up." he popped up from his spot and stood at the foot of the pullout with his arms crossed over his little chest.

"For what?" I said, slightly agitated now. I glanced at the end table, that held a clock and a lamp. The time read 7:30 and I felt my eyes bug. I was never up this early in the morning, and why the hell did he have so much fucking energy?

"What do you mean for what you smell." he answered, as if it was obvious.

"Oh." I grumbled, he obviously expected me to take a shower.

"Listen kid, I don't think your mother would appreciate my using either of your bathrooms." I imagined his mother waking up to find me, in her shower again only this time with no clothes on and naked.

Yea she probably wouldn't be as nice as she was yesterday.

"Your not using my bathroom, your too dirty." he scrunched up his nose like his mother had when she saw me, and again I couldn't help the small quick smile as it passed my lips.

"And my mom isn't here she's working, but I don't want you to use hers either."

"Then where do you expect me to get clean?" I said raising and eyebrow.

"There this place at the top floor, they can clean you real good up there." he dropped the toy and was gathering my shoes. He put them by the door yesterday because they smelled too bad.

I imagined the place he was talking about a spa, but from what I remember when he pulled me into the entrance, this place was pretty upscale and the spa wouldn't be cheap.

"And-" before I could ask who would be funding our trip to the spa, Quinn was already pulling on his own sneakers and chucking my dirty shoes at me.

"C'mooooooon." He said impatiently.

I complained about how pushy he was, before throwing my legs over the side and slipping on my shoes.

Again I felt bad. This kid was going through all of this to take care of me, and I couldn't understand why.

But a bath really did sound nice.

* * *

I couldn't tell you how many dirty looks you get when your homeless. My dingy appearance and less than appealing smell offended, that I understood. There wasn't much I could do about it except use those showers at the beach, but most didn't enjoy looking at a naked man on a non nudist beach. Not that I really fucking cared.

When even_ I _offended myself with my smell, I was going to fucking shower whether you like the view or not.

But those looks were nothing compared to how all these people looked at me in this hotel.

Every time the elevator we rode stopped to let on another person, they would give me the same look. Throwing up their noses immediately making an indignant sound like I had done something wrong. It spoke volumes about how they resented the fact that they didn't know why I was here, and didn't exactly approve of me being here either.

Quinn seemed oblivious to the whispers and stares that were thrown our way, whereas I wanted to flip each one of them off so they'd bring their fucking noses back down to my level.

He was blissfully unaware as he explained to me that on the weekends he was allowed anywhere in the hotel, as long as he didn't leave the actual premises_. _He was also speaking animatedly about a women that was friends with his mother who worked in the spa. From the way he spoke about her he completely adored her, and she the same. I tried to listen, I really did, but the way he skipped around in his stories was starting to give me a migraine.

Quinn ceased talking when we reached the second to top floor, the elevator doors opened to reveal a spacious waiting room area where women sat reading magazines in plush armchairs. Up at the front was a desk where they were waiting to be called on to enter behind it.

Quinn, marched straight up to the desk with an air of purpose. It was a little funny to watch because the kid was so short that his head barely cleared the edge of the desk. The receptionist had to stand up to peer down at him.

"Ah," a man,with the bright aqua button down shirt said as he recognized Quinn. His hair was long and ash blonde, pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. He waved a pale hand over, and Quinn came behind the desk and let him pull him onto his lap.

"_Po' tesoro! _Let me guess you are here to see Ali, no?" he questioned. His Italian accent was thick, through his wispy voice.

"Yea where is she? I need her help." he glanced over at me and the man's gaze followed. When he saw me he made a loud 'tsk' sound. "Yes, darling. Yes you do. Go ahead you know where." he waved me and Quinn through the rounded archway.

Through the arch way there was a long elaborate hallway. It was decked out in marble and there were lights coming from the ceiling that let off a blueish glow, giving you the feeling of being underwater. Either side of the hallway had doors lined one after the other and at the very end of the hallway was another desk. I assumed that's where we were supposed to go because Quinn was walking me down the hall towards it.

We reached a small impish women with shortly cropped black hair, and golden streaks running through it. Because of the woman's stature, the desk was smaller, and it didn't take much for Quinn to hop up and sit right in the girl's line of sight.

"Quinny!" she squealed, pulling him into a warm embrace.

"Hey Ali!" he answered brightly, hugging her back.

I couldn't remember him telling me what the name of his mother's friend was, but I could tell by the way he rambled at her excitedly that she was the one he was going on about before.

"So," she said when the chatter between them died down "What brings you here kiddo?"

"Oh yea!" Quinn exclaimed, as if he got totally sidetracked. He waved me forward eagerly until I was standing toe to toe with the desk.

"_What_ is _that_?"She stared at me with wide-eyed disgust. What is it with these people? It was like they've never seen someone dirty before.

Her look was grating on my nerves and I was going to open my mouth and ask what her fucking problem was, but Quinn spoke first.

"_He _is my friend. He's dirty Alice." Quinn's voice conveyed no hint of malice, just simply a child stating what he saw in front of him.

"You got that right," she snorted delicately "why is he here though?" she was staring right at me, but it was as if I wasn't here in front of her.

Quinn leaned in, as if to tell her a secret, but the kid couldn't whisper to save his life.

"_Can you clean him for me, he's really smelly and I don't want him to stink up our room. Don't tell him I said that though, I don't want to be mean."_

I rolled my eyes and the woman let out a giggle.

Alice grabbed his cheeks and pinched them, they way and aunt would her favorite nephew.

"Anything for you, Quinny."

I guess I really didn't have a say, even if I had wanted to turn down the bath.


	5. Epov:It

**Warning lengthy authors note but read please**.

A/N: Remember in the beginning when I told you updates would be sporadic? Yes well that time has come, I've run out of pre-written chapters D:

Its going to take a little longer for me to update because I like to be a few chapters ahead so you don't have to wait as long, but just be patient for me alright?

Nothing really interesting happens in this chapter btw, just Edward taking a bath... Sorry.

On second thought maybe that's a lil' interesting XD But no really its just Edward getting tidied up and no longer having him hobo looking.

This is not beta'd

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

The woman's intense gaze was starting to make me uncomfortable, so I shifted a little to distract myself from her piercing blue eyes.

She moved fast as she walked from around the desk to stare at me, I felt myself involuntarily take a step back when she walked right into my personal space. Walking around me in a full circle,she let out a low whistle.

"This is a shit load of work you want me to do here Qu-"

"Ali!" Quinn said admonishing her for her language.

"Sorry, Q." she apologized.

The kid hopped off of the desk and came over to where the girl named Alice was standing. He stood next to her, almost shoulder height with the short woman and pleaded. "You'll clean him up for me though, right?"

"Sure thing buddy. Why don't go hang out with Caius for awhile,I've got major work to do."

He beamed up at her and gave a tight hug telling her that she was the best and that he couldn't wait to see what she would do with me. Scampering down the hallway, almost tripping twice on his untied laces, he left me and Alice alone.

Turing to me she put her hands on her small waist and spoke to me directly for the first time.

"What do you want with him?"

I felt my eyes grow wide as I responded.

"I don't want anything, this was the kid's idea."

She raised a perfectly sculpted brow as if she didn't believe me.

"Listen, lady," I said irritated. "If you think I pressured him into doing anything,I didn't. He's the one who offered me something to eat and convinced his mom to let me sleep for a night. He is also the one who came up with the idea of coming here."

She looked surprised for a moment.

"Bella let you sleep in her room?" she asked skeptically.

_'Hmm.._Bella._ Of course her name would be beautiful, it fit her perfectly.' _I quickly shook the odd thought from my head and shrugged. "Yea, on the pullout."

She looked immersed in her own thoughts before she nodded to herself.

"Alright, if she trusts you then I guess I should too. Let's get started because you are going to be a helluva lot of work."

She didn't let me answer before she began walking down the hall, her heels clicking on the white marble floors.

As we reached one of the first doors at the beginning of the hallway, Alice literally shoved me in one marked _'Bathhouse Spa' _telling me without remorse that I stunk and this was where I needed to go first.

She closed the door behind me,and I took in the room. From the outside it looked much smaller but actually being in the room, you could see that it was large and spacious. The room was dimly lit and its walls and floors was tiled in strategically placed gray stones, and going down the middle of the room was a long pool that at the end a waterfall could be found. The sheer size of the pool told me that it wasn't meant for just one person, the room was deserted though.

Or I thought so until a girl in a white uniform with the name _'Bree'_ embroidered in light blue on her left breast pocket, appeared in front of me.

"Hello sir. May I help you with your clothes?" her voice was soft, and I could tell by the way her hands were shaking that she was nervous. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, and it was probably her first day on this job.

"No." it came out a lot more rough than I meant for it to, but I just wasn't used to fancy shit like this. I also wasn't familiar with people offering to help me out of my clothes.

"Okay sir."

We stood staring at each-other for the longest while,neither of us moving until I spoke up.

"Could you...uh...leave so I can get undressed?" I asked.

The girl giggled nervously and looked away. "I'm sorry sir, I'm not supposed to leave the room unless someone else is here to take my place."

I huffed, "Fine, then turn around and face the door."

"Okay sir." she said turning. I quickly removed my dirty clothes and hopped into the pool,wading into the warm water until I was waist deep.

Swimming in the ocean kept me in okay shape, so it was nothing for me to reach the end of the long pool to the running water fall in a little less than a minute. Putting my head under the warm water felt good, it had been so long since I'd taken a proper wash and it was hard to remember how soothing warm water could be.

Bringing my head back from under the waterfall I saw the girl holding something out to me.

"Soap sir?" she offered, her face was bright red as she held a silver tray of colorful beads out to me. She kept glancing down into the clear water were my junk was clearly visible.

Swimming up to the edge to stop her staring I took a handful of the beads and popped the gel-like capsules in my hand, slathering the soap on my body and hair and rinsed.

I spent a good thirty minutes just messing around in the water,splashing about like an excited kid. The water was fresh and warm and I was just savoring the fact that I had it now after all I had become used to was the cold beach showers or the salty ocean.

A few minutes later Alice came and told me to get out. Still mindful of the fact that I was butt naked, I asked Bree to bring me a towel to wrap around my waist.

Alice stood with her arms outstretched, a fluffy blue robe was open and ready for me to put my arms through. I slipped it on and turned back to Alice, watching her as her eyes glanced down at my open robe. I felt the tips of my ears grow hot and quickly tied a knot, closing it up.

"Aww, you shy?" she teased.

"Shut up." I mumbled, following her out.

"Where to next?" I asked as Alice closed the door behind us and lead me to another.

"Hair and makeup."

I stopped in front of the door and shook my head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean hair and makeup?"

_'That's for girls!'_ I thought childishly.

Alice looked annoyed as she pulled out a compact mirror from her side pocket. Opening it she showed me my face. Even though my face was no longer smudged in dirt, my hair was tangled and the long knotted beard I was sporting wasn't something I did before I'd lived on the streets with no razor.

"That is what I mean hair and makeup, we're not going to be putting lipstick and eyeliner on you if that's what your afraid of."

I grunted reluctantly and let her lead me into the room.

* * *

I was mad at Alice, as she promised there was no lipstick and eyeliner to be found, but they did pluck the shit out of things that on a man shouldn't be plucked and or tweezed.

She'd brought me into the room and there waiting had been two stylist, one named Alec who did hair, and one named Jane who deals in waxing and makeup. So yea I was mad at Alice, but I fucking hated Jane.

"_Fucking hell!" I shouted and flinched as Jane ripped the strip of wax from the middle of my eyebrows. _

_She laughed and came at me with the tweezers and plucked around my freshly waxed brows. _

"_Oh suck it up and be a man." she'd said._

I didn't know how women did that shit on a daily basis but I had to fucking commend them, that shit was torture.

When I looked in the mirror at the finished results I had to thank them though. I now recognized my face whereas before under all that hair I didn't know who was hiding in there. I thanked Alec by clapping him on the back. He stumbled forward slightly and said it was his pleasure to shave off that awful beard and styling my hair into a more carefully constructed chaos was fun. Alice forced me to thank Jane although for what I wasn't sure. All she fucking did was cause me unnecessary pain.

"So we're done?" I asked, following Alice back to the rounded archway at the front of the spa.

"Yes, it was a lot of work but we're done." she said tiredly.

"What are you so tired for," I laughed. "All you did was buff my nails a bit."

She turned to me with a glare so fierce I had to step back for fear of my personal safety.

"Do you know how hard it was to pick that nasty crud from under your nails?" it was a rhetorical question so I didn't answer.

Alice took a deep breath and composed herself looking me over. "Maybe we should have put some make up on you. Those scars really take away from your face." Her eyes roamed my features, staring at the scars on my lip and across my eye. It was probably hard to notice before because of all the hair that was covering them, but now that I was clean-shaven and styled they were visible to the world to see.

"How did they happen?" she asked.

"It's none of your business." I snapped.

She tilted my chin up and examined the one that ran under my jaw.

That one I didn't mind so much, it was visible proof to myself that I survived on my own on the streets. As for the other two...

I blanched and snatched my chin away, unwilling to let the dark memories overtake me.

"I'm sorry,I didn't mean to offend-"

"It's fine." I let a firm finality color my tone.

I could see she understood that the conversation would end at that as she nodded and dropped the subject.

"Let's go see what Quinny thinks."

"Yea. Let's do that."

"Here he is!" Alice said gesturing grandly at me as we stepped through the archway.

The man from this morning, and Quinn turned their head from what they were doing on the desk and stared blankly at me.

"Who is that?" they asked simultaneously.

Quinn just looked plain confused but the man, Caius, smiled lasciviously at me, giving me a _'come hither_' look.

I shivered.

"It's me kid, Edward."

* * *

A/N: If you guys are curious about what my Edward looks like when he's all clean it's on my profile. If the link doesn't work send me a pm and I will _personally_ send you the link.

Of course the picture is not actually Edward but this is how I see him in my head,he's tan cause he lives in the Florida sun,plus he had two of the three scars I needed soooo deal lol.

Until Next Update

Ciao

The Twi-Tard.

P.S. I'm so happy that you guys seem love Quinn as much as I do, his picture link is there too if your interested ^.^


	6. Epov:Voldemort, and Barbies

A/N: Yea well _this_, was actually the_ last_ pre-written chapter I had ^.^' I was just letting you guys know ahead of time before.

I have no idea how long and or short the wait will be, it depends on if the characters decide to talk to me, if you guys write you'll understand how totally screwed you are if your characters decide to clam up on you lol.

Let's hope for the best shall we?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

P.S case you didn't notice before this isn't beta'd, so sorry for any mistakes.

_*Bello means handsome in Italian._

* * *

**_-Previously on CWKH-_**

_"Here he is!" Alice said gesturing grandly at me as we stepped through the archway._

_The man from this morning, and Quinn turned their head from what they were doing on the desk and stared blankly at me._

_"Who is that?" they asked simultaneously._

_Quinn just looked plain confused but the man, Caius, smiled lasciviously at me, giving me a 'come hither' look._

_I shivered._

_"It's me kid, Edward."_

_(_Heh, always wanted to do that :P_)  
_

* * *

"I'm sorry Mister, I don't know an Edward."

I felt the hurt quickly flit across my features, before I concealed it.

He doesn't know me? What did he mean-

_Ahhh shit._

He tricked me. When he asked who I was he knew that it was me, he was just trying to get me to say my name and it worked.

I lifted my hands in mock surrender."Fine kid you win. My name is Edward." I smirked.

"Got you." he smiled.

"Is that really you though? You look nothing like before." he said in disbelief.

I stepped closer to the desk so he could get a good look at me. He stared up at me, his brown eyes squinted and his tongue stuck out at the corner of his mouth, as he tried to find the face of the dirty man he'd met yesterday.

"Wow Ali, I didn't know you could do magic!" he exclaimed after awhile.

"Yes Alice,well done." Caius stealthily tried to reach for the knot on my robe,but I politely stepped away.

Alice laughed from behind me. "Your mom doesn't call me pixie for nothing, Q."

A thoughtful expression crossed his face.

"Oh! I thought it was because your small. Anyways this is awesome, he doesn't look like Chewbacca anymore." Sometimes kids brutal honesty hurt, even if you knew they didn't mean it offensively.

"Hey, I was not that hairy." I gave him a slight push and he laughed loudly.

"I'm sorry _bello_, but you were." Caius chimed.

"Well, now that he's clean ," Alice stepped in "what are we going to do about clothes? You can't walk around like that." she gestured to the fluffy blue robe and slippers, complimentary items from the spa.

"Why not? Our guest seem to seem to be loving the view, like I am." Caius glanced at the women in the waiting area, and I could see that all eyes were trained intently on me.

They were all whispering amongst themselves like when I first walked in, but now I knew it was for a completely different reason.

I cleared my throat.

"I could get my old-"

"Oh no, forget about those clothes I threw them away. Here." she reached into her breast pocket and handed me a wad of cash.

"Alice I can't take this." I tried to push the money back into her hands, even though my learned instincts told me to save it for food.

"Please, if it will keep you out of what you came in with you would be doing me a favor."

"Alice," I said counting. "This is nearly 300 dollars in tip, you earned this I can't take it from you."

"Edward, honestly with the women that come through here everyday I can earn that back in an afternoon. Don't worry about me."

"But I-"

"Oh my god you are the worst hobo ever!" she joked.

"The only one that doesn't accept money!" Cauis agreed chortling.

"Go get clothes because in case you didn't notice,under that robe your naked. And Caius isn't the only one who wants a glimpse of whats in there."

My face grew hot as I looked around the room at the women who were giving affirmative nods to Alice's statement.

* * *

"Hey,Ali takes me here sometimes!" Quinn exclaimed as we ventured into the thrift store, he was so loud most people stopped what they were doing to look our way. The old cashier rose her graying eyebrows at my choice of clothing, she looked like she was going to approach me but then shook her head. Probably dismissing it as a new trend or some shit.

After profusely thanking Alice since she would not accept her money back, I left the spa with Quinn. I'd told him when we got downstairs in the lobby that I was going to go out to get clothes and I would be up later but he begged me to let him come.

I tried to argue that his mother probably wouldn't appreciate him leaving the hotel without her knowing and he came back with a retort that I bet he didn't even realize was smart alecky.

"You said same thing when I told you to hide in the shower and look, now your clean."

I laughed because he was right.

"I dunno kid," I was still unconvinced, but then he said something that caused an odd fluttering feeling in my chest.

"Please Edward? Remember my mom said you only got to stay til' tonight,what if I don't get to see you again?"

"You'll know where to find me." I answered steadily.

If he ever did want to find me again after I left, the beach was a place that I drifted to frequently. But he was just a kid. After about a week he'd probably forget about me, maybe not intentionally but it would happen.

He shook his head, "That's not you, when your out alone. That's a hungry, mean ol' man. This is you." his eyes were so wide and sincere I could tell that he actually believed what he was saying.

It was obvious by the way we were currently browsing the aisles that I broke and let him come with me.

"What are we doing here?" he asked trailing behind me like a little puppy as I sifted through the racks, looking for something wearable.

"I thought you said you came here before with Alice?" I plucked a dress-shirt from a hanger and folded it over my arm. Then moved on to a black short sleeved turtle neck tee that looked like it would be form fitting but it was nice.

"I do, but only to drop some of her old clothes off. Sometimes we bring stuff that doesn't fit me anymore too. Alice said you shouldn't buy from here unless you have to."

I snorted. Alice was probably a spoiled daddy's girl growing up, but I however was used to shopping from stores like this one.

"I need to shop here kid, remember where you found me." I reminded him bringing the pile of clothes I had accumulated and taking them to the dressing rooms, asking Quinn to sit in-front of the door until I came out.

Choosing a tight black t-shirt and a pair of jeans that I found, along with some worn old canvas shoes I put them on leaving the robe and slippers behind in the dressing room. I left the dressing room and Quinn gave me a two thumbs up from his seat.

I spent a total of 30 bucks for everything, ten pairs of jeans, eleven shorts, six jackets, one sweat jacket, ten casual tees, and two pairs of shoes. I had money left over, enough to take Quinn to the eleventh street diner when he told me he was hungry and I realized that we hadn't had breakfast yet. It was nearly 12:00 in the afternoon.

As soon as we were seated, a bottle blonde waitress named Kate with a smile as fake as her tits approached our booth.

"Hello sir what can I get you today?" She bent down towards me as if to hear my order, but I knew she was only trying to make her cleavage more visible through her candy stripped uniform. I didn't miss the fact that she was only speaking to me and not Quinn.

I didn't particularly enjoy her attention.

"Have you met my kid,Quinn?" I said gesturing to him. "I think he has his order all ready for you." Kate stood up faster then I could say plastic surgery, and glanced at Quinn rudely asking his order.

Quinn ordered a tall strawberry milkshake and smiley face pancakes with extra whip-cream on both.

I knew that meant he would be hyper but I decided that I might as well let him have what he wants as a silent thank you for all he's done for me

"And you sir? I can get you _anything_ you'd like." the fake smile was back on her face and I rolled my eyes at the innuendo.

"I'll have a cheese burger and a strawberry milkshake please." I answered flatly.

"That all?" she pouted her painted red lips, seemingly deflated that I hadn't given in to her offer.

I shook my head and crooked my finger at her, giving the best flirtatious smile I could muster hoping like hell it didn't turn out to be a grimace. Her dull blue eyes lit up as she leaned towards me, her closeness almost made me choke on her cloying perfume.

I whispered in her ear, though loud enough that it could be heard by anyone seated close to me.

"_You want to know what else I want?"_ I tried to make my voice sound like it was dripping with want, but I couldn't help the venom that got injected to it.

She seemed to like it though because her breath hitched and she nodded, so I continued.

"_I would also like you to..." _her breathing stuttered again. "_I would like you to be a less skanky waitress if you could manage that, Kate." _I deadpanned.

Kate's eyes narrowed as she huffed and stood turning on her heel and walking away.

"Why did you send her away?" Quinn asked, confused by the exchange.

"I don't like barbie dolls kid." I said loud enough so Kate could hear me.

She shot daggers at me from across the way and I smiled innocently, winking.

"Barbie dolls?" he questioned. Of course he wouldn't get it, so I waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it."

We spent most of the afternoon, sitting in the diner just talking about anything and everything.

He was the one that was mostly talking, I just sat there dutifully listening and nodding my head when it was appropriate.

When Quinn finished his sugary meal he talked faster and excitedly about all the things he liked to do and what he was interested in.

He explained to me that he loved reading, it was one of his most favorite things to do. His mother had taught him at an early age that reading helped you to be smarter and you learned things faster, I could tell that he soaked up anything his mom said like a sponge.

The way his eyes shined whenever he talked about her told me how much he loved her.

I think I could understand why. Nothing in the hotel room that they lived in suggested a male presence, his mother was probably the only thing he had.

"Harry Potter is so cool!" he rambled. " Alice let me watch all of his movies at her house once, she told me that the books are better and that maybe when I get a little bit older she would let me borrow them so I could read them. He has this big lightning bolt scar on his face, he got it from a bad guy trying to kill him. Is that what happened to your face?" he leaned forward over the table and traced the one over my eye.

I choked on my milkshake and stared at him.

I heard kids were always perceptive because their innocent minds were not clouded with judgment,but his question was so close to home it was almost uncanny.

"Yea," I said hoarsely, clearing my throat. "Something like that."

"Who was it?" he asked with wide eyes, now tracing the one on my lip.

I laughed shakily, trying to steer the conversation away from myself. "Well it wasn't moldy bread, or what ever his name is."

My diversion worked because he corrected me telling me it was Voldemort. He then launched into a whole explanation of how if you took the words 'I am lord Voldemort' and swapped them around it spelled his real name,Tom Marvalo Riddle. He went on to tell me that he changed his name because he didn't want to be close to his '_muggel_' father.

"I'm like Voldemort, you know." he said, stealing my milkshake and taking a sip from it.

"Why's that? Does Voldemort like to steal Peoples milkshakes too?" I sat back in the booth and stared pointedly at him as he sipped happily from my straw.

"No, because I don't want to be close to my dad. That's why I don't cut my hair and spike it like other kids do. He does that." he shook his head making his bangs fall into his eyes.

"Why don't you want to be close to your dad?"

That was kind of a weird thing to say, especially for a kid his age. He was supposed to idolize his old man. Of course I had no room to talk about loving your father anyhow.

He was about to answer me when Kate came back with the check, effectively ending the conversation. I was happy to see that she took my advice and acted less skanky by buttoning up her blouse. That happiness was short-lived when I saw her number scrawled in the check book. I pretended I didn't see it and handed her the money needed to pay. Right down to the cent.

She raised an eyebrow. "No tip?"

"_Tip_?" I asked.

She nodded and held out a red clawed hand expectantly.

I stood from the booth, gave her a handshake, and smiled as I walked away with Quinn.

"Here's one, guys don't like plastic." I threw over my shoulder.

"Bye, barbie!" Quinn called waving at Kate as we left.

I chuckled as Kate's face turned an unnatural shade of purple.

"Good one, kid." I mussed his hair and he smiled.

"What did I do?" he patted down the stray strands and looked up at me.

I just laughed again and shook my head. "You just made my day."

In more ways than one.

* * *

A/N: Barbie dolls... I used to hate those things, but Bratz were my shit lol.

Sooo, yea next chapter will be Bella seeing our sexified Edward for the first time. Whenever that update will be...

See you then guys, and oh before I forget thank you so much for all the reviews, favs, and follows they mean alot to me and let me know people are actually reading this and its not just collecting virtual dust hehe. Its the best response I got for any story and you guys make me very happy sooo thank you =3= ~_chu_

Until Next Update

Ciao

The Twi-Tard


	7. Bpov:Is that you?

A/N: So you know when your trying to sleep and your brain wont stfu? Yea I wrote this chapter half asleep so I'm so sorry D:

This is not beta'd

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

*_Cara mio means My dear in Italian _

* * *

"All done sir?" I asked gesturing to the empty cup and plate in front of the customer.

"Yes, thank you so much."

I took the tray and loaded it with the coffee cup and plate. I picked up his check book, and turned to leave. I was about to walk to the kitchen when the old man stopped me.

"Honey,wait." he said placing a wrinkled old hand on my elbow.

I stopped and rested the tray on my hip, putting the checkbook in my apron pocket.

"Yes sir, what is it? Would you like to order some dessert? I could come back if you want after I put these in the kitchen-"

"No dear I'm way too old for sweets, too much for my blood pressure." he laughed. "It has been a real treat eating here this afternoon and not because of the food, compliments to the chef by the way, but your lovely attitude is refreshing. Not many young girls out here today are like you." He opened up his wallet and held out a twenty-dollar bill.

"Is that for me? Sir I couldn't take that."

He placed the bill in my free hand and closed a fist over mine.

"Please I insist. They way you stuck around even after my order to humor me was really nice. I appreciate you talking to an old geezer like me." he winked.

I laughed. It wasn't that I was humoring him he was a very interesting man to talk to. Working here at the hotel restaurant was my favorite job because I liked to talk to and get to know my customers. One was never the same as the other.

"Well, I don't know what to say sir..."

"You could say thank you." he smiled.

"Thank you very much,you don't know how much this means to me."

"No problem doll face. And I don't want to see you putting that in the tip jar either, that's for you to keep."

I stuffed the bill in my slacks and nodded sagely. "Thank you again sir, I hope to see you back at Marcus's place and enjoy your stay at La Volturi."

As the old man left, I walked thorough the double doors to the back and caught up to Marcus the manager of the restaurant.

"_Cara mio_, I see you've charmed another one." he said patting me lightly on the head.

I grinned at him,removing my apron and handing him the checkbook.

"I don't know about charmed Marcus, but he did seem to like me."

"Bella, Bella. So beautiful and you don't even know it. I bet you give men a hard time." A smile graced Marcus's usually neutral face.

I blushed. "See you Monday,Marcus."

"Ciao,Bella." he kissed me on my reddened cheek and left.

* * *

When I left the restaurant I had wanted to go up to the room and check up on Quinn and the man. The last time I saw Quinn was this morning when I left for working in the morning at 7:00 but he was sound asleep in the room and so was the man, but I needed to go grocery shopping at the superstore.

I finally decided that if something happened Quinn would have called me by now.

Walking through the aisles I picked up all the essentials like milk, bread, water, meat, veggies,fruit, pasta ect. When I noticed how little I had in my cart I didn't know what I was missing. Usually my cart was so full it was brimming over.

That was when I realized that the only reason my cart was usually so full was because Quinn would come with me and fill it with every junk food imaginable. So I went back through the aisles, and was basically shoving whole shelves of prepackaged crap into the cart. Chip bags, sugary cereal boxes, pop tarts, juices and sodas.

_'I wonder what that man would eat.' _the thought ran idly through my mind, and I was surprised at myself. Was he even still there?

If he wasn't then I guess it really didn't matter what he ate because I only agreed to let him stay until tonight.

I suddenly felt bad.

I knew for a fact that he didn't have a place to stay, so he probably wouldn't leave until the very last moment of me kicking him out the door. Putting him out again when I knew he didn't have a place to say would be a cruel thing to do on my part, not the mention that Quinn would probably hate me for doing it.

_'You don't know him.' _the rational part of my brain tried to argue.

Honestly the man hadn't really shown any sign that he was a threat to either me or Quinn so there really was no reason to throw him out. I probably wouldn't even be able to do it even if I tried.

Pushing my cart over to the frozen food aisle, I grabbed boxes of Hungry Man meals and studied them.

_'Guys like to eat these right?' _I shrugged and threw them into the cart, if he didn't like them I could make him something myself.

I drifted from the produce section and went to the side where there was clothes and such. For weeks Quinn had begged me to buy him big boy's underwear. He complained that all the boys in his class wore boxers, and he was the only one still in cartoon printed tighty whities. When I asked him how he knew exactly what the other boys in his class were wearing he told me that they sagged their pants.

I made him promise that if he didn't 'sag' I would buy him boxers.

I picked up a packet of Boy's boxers and dropped them into the cart, I was about to walk to the register and get ready to go when my eyes landed on the men's rack.

_'I wonder if he'll mind..'_

Picking up a package of Men's boxer briefs I read the back.

_Lightweight cotton boxer brief. Body-defining fit. Contour pouch flatters physique. Signature logo waistband. Tagless. Imported. 100% cotton!_

Body-defining huh? I blushed as an image of that man's face came into mind, His green eyes stood out most against his dirty over worn clothes. I imagine a handsome face was under all that hair and dirt.

Blushing again, this time more profusely, I threw the item into the cart and headed for the line. I decided that next time I could buy him clothes when I figured out his correct size.

It didn't at all strike me as odd that I was doing something as mundane as buying underwear for a man whose name I didn't even know.

After all I was just being nice...right?

* * *

Getting to our room back at the hotel was a difficult feat. I didn't have anyone that could offer to help me with the bags, so I piled them high in my arms almost barley being able to see over the top. I didn't know how I got to the elevator safely without bumping into anyone but was glad that I managed not to.

Walking down the hall and getting to our door was easy enough, but I was stumped on how to knock so someone would come open it. I settled for shifting my weight to one foot and using the other to tap on the door.

There was a muffled 'Coming!' and then the door swung open. I couldn't see who opened it so I just assumed it was Quinn.

"Hey Quinn do you think you could help me- Oh!" I gasped.

As I was asking for help I was able to shift the bags over into my other arm, and the sight that greeted me was no Quinn.

Neither the man nor I flinched when a bag fell to the floor. The distinctive sound of glass shattering against the marble was loud in my ears but I ignored it, because it seemed that the thrumming of my heart was louder.

"Hello," I breathed.

"Hi." he answered, pulling a hand thorough his wild coppery hair.

His green eyes darted to the bag on the floor between us then back up to my face, I wanted to see what he was looking at but I was so entrapped in his gaze. My eyes wandered from his and to other parts of his face, the man had sharp dramatic features. A hard squared jaw, high cheekbones, and a nose that came to a point but not overly so. The full lips and green eyes were eerily familiar, and as I tried to place him I couldn't help myself from openly gawking.

I briefly permitted myself a look at his body, taking in the tight black t-shirt and jeans that were slung low on his hips.

I glanced back up to his face to see his soft lips pull into a crooked smile and decided then and there that this man was perfect. The only imperfection to him, if they could be actually called that, were three scars. One going down his eye, one on his lip, and a barely noticeable one under his jaw. If anything those scars made him that much more desirable.

_'Wonder how he got_ _them.' _Thoughts of ridiculously over embellished bar fights and such ran though my mind. I saw this man leaning against a grimy stone wall with a cigaret hanging loosely from his mouth, those eyes daring anyone to mess with him-

"Ehem..." My eyes shot up to his and he was smirking.

I quickly gathered my bearings, and decided to speak.

"Uh... who are you?" I asked dumbly.

_'And why are you in my hotel room.'_ I wanted to say. I wondered briefly if Quinn brought him home too. If he did we needed to have a serious chat about bringing strange men to the hotel room.

The man's smile grew as he chuckled.

"I'm Edward. Edward Cullen."

"Bella, Bella Swan." I blurted and he raised and eyebrow.

That was much less graceful than I had intended.

"Don't recognize me, Bella?" he asked teasingly.

"No, I can't say I do... I'm sorry." he pursed his lips as if trying to keep himself from laughing aloud.

His jade green eyes danced with mirth as he reached for the bags in my arms.

"Here, Bella. Let me help you with those."

His voice was in a light teasing tone, but it was so deep and rich it made me shiver...

"Oh my gosh!" I gasped, my mind connecting the dots.

His eyes, the weird copper hair color, that voice...

"It's you?" I asked in disbelief. "The guy from the shower?"

* * *

A/N: Those looks can really mess with your head huh Bells?

See you guys next time

Ciao

The Twi-Tard


	8. E&Bpov:You Can Stay

A/N: Hi guys, sorry for the wait but school has started and I promised my mom that I would throw myself into academics and I plan to do so. I wont be leaving you guys but remember I did warn that the updates would be sporadic, now especially since I accidentally picked a collage course class that I may fail -.-'

This is not beta'd.

Disclaimer:I don't own anything.

* * *

Bella was so checking me out.

I could feel the weight of her gaze as her eyes bore into mine. Her stare was so intense that I almost had to look away, thankfully her eyes traveled from my face to my body instead.

I was usually uncomfortable when people stare at me for too long, the subtle feeling of their eyes bothered me because usually it was them thinking of what an eyesore I was to the scenery. They weren't looking at me they were looking at my outward appearance;a dirty, smudged, stinking, bum.

But Bella, the way she was staring at me was like she was actually _seeing _me and was interested in who I was.

Maybe it was because I wasn't covered in dirt and hair anymore.

I smiled at her as she looked back up at my face, but then her gaze got stuck on my scars. She was studying them intensely as if trying to find a story behind them, or probably thinking of how unsightly they were.

If it was the first she probably wasn't going to guess right. The latter had me clearing my throat to draw her attention away from my slight disfigurements, hoping that the look she had in her eyes was still there.

When her eyes sought out mine so quickly, the corner of my lip lifted.

"Uh... who are you?"

The smile spread quickly from just the corner to my mouth and turned to a full one as I laughed.

Did I really look that different that no one remembered who I was?

"I'm Edward. Edward Cullen."

"Bella," she answered quickly. "Bella Swan."

I rose an eyebrow, her name meant beauty and grace? It was odd that her name was so fitting to herself. "Don't recognize me, Bella?" I teased.

"No, I can't say I do... I'm sorry."

The way she sounded so sincerely sorry that she couldn't recall a stranger's name was oddly cute, and I pursed my lips desperately trying to keep my laugh at bay.

It took me awhile to notice that the bags she had piled in her arms were too heavy for her, the pile was swaying slightly and she was so focused on me that I didn't think she noticed another was about to fall.

"Here, Bella. Let me help you with those." I offered.

"Oh my gosh!" she said suddenly. I almost retracted my arms thinking I hurt her accidentally.

"It's you? The guy from the shower?"

The recognition that covered Bella's features was highly amusing, she stood in the doorway with her mouth hanging in shock and her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

She seemed to recover when I grabbed most of the bags leaving her with only a few.

"The one and only..." I said stepping to the side to let her in.

"Well at least I hope so." I laughed nervously at the thought of Bella having different men parading around in her shower but quickly dismissed the thought. She didn't come off as that kind of girl.

I placed the bags of groceries on the table and Bella followed suit, staring at me the whole time. I didn't think she noticed that I noticed.

"You clean up well." her voice was barely above a whisper, and I doubted that she meant for me to hear that.

"Why, thank you." I answered anyway.

She blushed the most charming shade of pink, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Did I say that out loud?"she sounded mortified.

I smiled at her trying to sooth the embarrassment , and she squeaked a nervous laugh. Grasping the bun in her hair she pulled out the band and let her hair fall into a thick wavy dark curtain that covered her face, hiding her rosy cheeked embarrassment.

I felt my hand twitch when I reached up to brush the tresses from her face, so I could see her eyes. She looked up at me through the sea of chestnut strands as I tucked them behind her ears, and smiled tentatively.

"No need to be embarrassed, it was a compliment. And I thank you." I assured her.

Bella flushed a deeper shade of pink, and bit her lip.

"Your welcome...Edward."

And that was when I felt it. An odd crackling energy was pulsating in the space around us, it felt so loud in my ears,even though I knew there wasn't really a physical sound to accompany the feeling. Except for maybe the loud beating of my over excited heart.

Neither of us blinked during those long seconds as our eyes held each others gaze. We didn't exchange smiles like strangers were supposed to when having polite conversation, we were after all complete strangers. We didn't know each other, but the electricity that coursed through me and reverberated in the marrow of my bones begged to differ, as if my body was telling me that _it_ knew her.

The moment however ended abruptly taking the feeling with it when Quinn came skidding out of his room and crashed into Bella, forcing her let out an ungraceful '_oof _' sound as the breath was knocked out of her.

"Your home!" Quinn shouted, hopping up on his tippy toes pecking his mother on the cheek.

Bella patted him on his head as she tried to recover the air into her lungs.

"Where's the fire little one?" she asked breathlessly, brushing his bangs out of his face.

"Fire? What fire?"

"She wants to know why your running around like a lunatic trying to knock people down." I interjected.

"Oh! Sorry mom, I think Barbie gave me too much extra whip cream." I could tell by the way he was jittering that the sugar overload was starting to overtake him.

It was all I could do but hope that he crashed soon, and that Bella wouldn't be too mad at me for causing said sugar rush.

"Barbie?" Bella's brow wrinkled as she scrunched her eyebrows at her kid, trying to figure out what the hell he was going on about. I felt the overwhelming need to smooth them out with my thumb but ignored my hand this time as it twitched, dropping it back to my side.

"Its nothing, just a little nickname we gave a waitress at a diner this morning. I don't think she liked it too much, huh kid?"

Quinn giggled and rapidly shook his head back and forth.

"So.. uh how exactly did this happen?" she waved her hand at me referring to my recent transformation, and visit to the diner.

"Your friend, Alice. She was also kind enough to lend me money for clothes, I had a lot left over to feed him." I say, gesturing over to the bag of clothes on the couch. I say lend because she better believe that I was going to pay her back someday,whether she liked it or not.

"When did you meet Alice?" I opened my mouth to explain to her what me and Quinn had been doing this whole morning while she was at work, but before any words left my mouth Quinn dove into a whole over exaggerated version of our morning. It was funny how kids had a knack of making things sound much more exciting then they actually are.

"And that's what happened after Alice was done doing her pixie stuff, a magical miracle." Quinn concluded.

Bella laughed and ruffled his hair. "Riiiiiight, well I think that we should go to the beach to celebrate this magical miracle before I go to work again."

What she really meant when she said that was: _I think we should go to the beach so you can tire yourself out before I go to work again. _

"Can Edward come?" Quinn asked looking over at me then to his mom.

Bella smiled at me and looked back down at Quinn.

"Yes of course honey, now hurry up and go get ready."

She didn't have to tell him twice as he went barreling out of the kitchenette to his room.

* * *

**Bpov: **

We spent two hours on the beach, and I used every minute just sitting on the checkered blanket watching Edward and Quinn interact.

At the moment they were racing to the edge of the water, Edward was purposely letting Quinn out run him. It was like he felt me watching so he looked up and caught my eye, I gave a smile and stood up to join them.

They were near the water now, and Quinn was inching forward ever so slightly while Edward was keeping up a constant string of warnings.

"Don't go in the water you don't have a bathing suit on. C'mon. Seriously. Honestly do you want your mom to be mad at me? She said don't go in the water. If you don't come back right now I'm going to drag you back. I could have your mom take us back early. She would too listen to me. Don't even think about it kid. I'm serious don't you dare- Oh! _Real cute_ kid." he huffed and struggles alittle as he brings Quinn into a giant bear hug, then to his knees. "See who's laughing now?"

Edward had Quinn helplessly pinned under his leg when I finally reached them. Quinn was holding an empty bucket in his hands, and his jeans were soaked. I guessed the wet patch on the front of Edward's shirt would explain the empty bucket.

"Let me up, let me up!" he screeched laughing hard as Edward tickled his ribcage.

"I don't think so squirt, you ruined my shirt." Edward held mock anger in his tone, causing another bout of fresh laughter from Quinn.

"Mom!" he snorted. "Help!"

I smiled at him "I don't think so, Edward was right. I did say not to go in the water, this is your punishment."

"Noooo!" he wheezed, turning red as I bent down and aided Edward in the tickling assault.

Quinn was exhausted and tuckered out by the time we let him up.

"That was uncalled for." he panted, pointing an accusatory finger at the both of us.

Me and Edward couldn't help ourselves as we burst out laughing like kids getting reprimanded by a parent, Quinn however didn't find it funny as he flopped ungracefully onto Edwards lap. He started to complain about how unfair we were for double teaming him when he yawned loudly and immediately began snoring lightly as the sugar in his system wore off.

"Well, that worked well." Edward said winking at me.

"Yea it did, thanks for running around like that with him. Otherwise he never would have went to bed."

"Trust me, it was the least I could do for you guys."

* * *

"Bye kid, It was nice meeting you and your mom." Edward whispered.

I needed to get out to the lounge, and Aro was probably going to kill me for being late to work twice this week, but I couldn't help but stop when I heard Edward's hushed goodbye.

I watched him from Quinn's doorway as he stood over his sleeping form.

"Cute isn't he?" I said softly.

I walked towards him and he shrugged. "Yea, kid is gunna be a looker if he's anything like his mom." then immediately he looked panicked as if he hadn't meant to say that out loud. "I-I mean uh...real, cute for sure."

I flushed at his compliment as sat down at the edge of Quinn's bed, brushing errant blonde strands as they fell into his peaceful face.

"He looks a lot like you when he's sleeping." he continued.

"Really?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair causing him to shift a little as he curled towards me.

"How do you think he's going to react?" Edward blurted suddenly.

I looked up at him and bit my lip at his worried expression knowing exactly what he was talking about. Edward genuinely seemed to care about Quinn's reaction to his leaving. The fact that he actually took the time to come say goodbye and worry after about the impact was unbelievably important to me.

It also solidified my decision.

"He's probably going to freak out when he realizes that your not here, and then he'll run out to the beach and go looking for you Which is why-"

"Yea, I totally understand. It's why you want me to leav-"

"I am going to let you stay." I said talking over him.

His reaction to my statement was delayed, as he kept going on of why he understood why I would want him to go but as the words sunk in he shot his gaze to mine.

"What did you say?"

"You can stay Edward, I'll even help you look for work." I offered.

Edward rose his arms, I knew it was meant to bring me into a hug but I flinched violently anyway.

Damn it. I should know better then that, I spent months trying to get myself to ignore little movement from men. They were harmless and It made me mad that my mind understood that but sometimes my body would react needlessly.

_'Its just Edward.' _I told myself quietly over and over again.

Thankfully he didn't seem to notice me and put his arms down seemingly to catch himself.

"Bella thank you, so much." His eyes were wide, as if he couldn't believe this was actually happening and I gave a warm smile.

"It would be my pleasure,Edward. Listen I have got to get to work right now, but first thing tomorrow we can go out looking for a job for you."

I stood up from the bed, and Edward walked me to the door. Before I left I pointed to the forgotten groceries on the table asking him to put them away for me.

"Oh yea and there's.. uh stuff in there for you too." I mumbled closing the door behind me, wondering what he would think about me buying the underwear.

I got my answer when a loud snort reached me from the end of the hall, causing my face to set fire in embarrassment.

* * *

A/N:Sooo, how was that? You guys bored with us yet O.O

See you next update.

Ciao

The Twi-Tard


	9. Epov:Sorry

A/N: Hey guys! So I must express to you how happy I am to have 100 'n somthin' reviews! That is like so new to me and I never thought _CWKH (that's right abbreviated like a boss xD) _would get that much attention, it may seem like nothing to some with like 1,000 reviews but for me this is a big fucking deal so thank you so much for your reviews! You too invisible guest and subbers/favoriters, I appreciate you guys too but I can't know what you lovelies are thinking and thank you for your wonderful thoughts if you don't sign in or review, just sayin ;)

Enough with my spazzing sorry lol, you guys probably think I'm stupid for being so proud over this but it's just.. uhg thank you!

This is not beta'd.

Disclaimer:I don't own anything.

**_Warning: brief scene of child abuse so if you're not comfortable with this subject,please skip over it. (the italicized part) _**

* * *

"_Where are you, you fucking mistake?!"_

_The voice echoed through the house and settled in my ears, ringing like an alarm alerting me of the danger coming straight towards me. I snapped to attention in my bed and a dizzying rush of adrenaline flowed through me as I looked up from my book to the door. _

"_Answer me you little prick!" he thundered, the air in my room crackling like lightning.  
_

_The voice was harsher, and louder. I could tell he was closing in when I could feel the vibrations of his heavy foot steps as he stomped up the hall. I quickly glanced around my room trying to find something that would tick him off more than he was._

_I didn't want that punishment piled onto the one I was about to get.  
_

_Dirty clothes were spilling from the hamper, and not neatly folded like he expected of me. I had an empty bottle of water on the bay windowsill and the curtains were open from when I sitting and looking out this morning._

_He didn't like it when the curtains were drawn, letting the light shine through. It was yet another example that would show how closed off to the outside world I was because of him._

_The jiggling doorknob brought me back from my thoughts, giving me enough time to right my room as he fiddled with the lock, growling things like "Fucking dipshit locked the door."_

"_You think that's going to keep me out, _Edward?_" he hollered, and I couldn't help but pause when I heard him call me that. I hadn't been called that since mom-_

_The door let loose a loud _'crack' _booting me back into action, causing me to completely abandon the thought._

_I darted to the hamper, throwing the top on it so he couldn't see the unfolded clothes. Then I sprinted to the window and threw the water bottle under the bed, roughly shutting the curtain and throwing myself into darkness. _

_I was still standing by the window when my door was finally flung open, slamming into the wall behind it with a loud_ 'bang'_ that made me jump._

_I faced him with my fist balled up at my sides and stiffening my upper lip as to not show how scared I was, it only made him angrier at how much of a _pussy_ I acted like. _

_I was surprised to see his usually anger creased face set in a mask of deadly calm._

"_Get to the kitchen." he said in a voice so low and laced with menace that it made ice drip down my spine. He turned on his heel leaving me rooted to the spot trying to think of what I had done wrong in the kitchen. I know I cleaned up his mess as soon as I got home so it had to be spot-_

"_RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" the words crashed down the hall and into me, propelling my feet out of the room and into the kitchen where he was standing by the sink waiting for me. _

_"Explain this to me," he said simply, his voice shook, doused with hot anger as he thrust a twitching hand towards the counter top.  
_

_There sitting on the counter was sitting a bottle of Jack, the fluorescent lights sparkling off of the bottle with a taunting gleam. It was as if it knew all the trouble it caused me. _

_However I couldn't understand what he was getting at, the only problem I could find with it was that-_

It was empty.

"_I-I don't" before I could finish my sentence he was on me, grabbing my shoulders and thrusting me backwards into the island behind me. _

_A dull throbbing in my head suddenly exploded into my senses as my forehead glanced off of the marble that covered the top of the island. _

"_You stupid little fucking ginger. You think I wouldn't notice?"_

_Somewhere in the back of my mind I found it funny that he was poking fun at the color of my hair, when his natural hair color was a bright fiery red too, that was until it began to fade and gray in places.  
_

_I looked up with bleary eyes at him hovering above me, my spot on the cold tiled floor making me seem much smaller in his wake. _

"_I was only trying to help." I whispered brokenly._

"_I p-p-"_

"_Bullshit you fucking liar. You just wanted all the good shit for yourself." the smell of cheap beer washed over me and I shrank away as he neared. _

_No wonder he was so mad at me, I poured his good liquor down the sink and he had to resort to the cheap stuff as substitute. _

"_I'm sorry I-"_

"_I don't want your fucking bull apologies boy. They aren't going to bring my liquor back are they?" I heard the sickening crunch before I felt it. When I tried to move my arm it just caused a sharp pain to shoot down that whole side of my body and I screeched in agony._

"_Please s-stop." I pleaded but I knew that begging would only make him furious, and wasn't surprised to feel his shoe digging into the side of my ribcage. _

_I rolled over and curled into a ball, shutting my eyes tight I tried to recede into my happy place._

"_Edward." a soft voice whispered. It wasn't loud but somehow it over powered his loud scathing screams. _

_I smiled as the voice filled my ears. _

_I opened my eyes and saw that he disappeared and a hand was reaching out towards me so I grabbed it, pulling at the delicate fingers._

A startled yelped jerked me awake and I saw Bella sprawled on the pull-beside me looking flustered. In my dreaming haze I reached for her hand and grabbed it, causing her to knock into my chest.

"I am so sorry I grabbed you, Bella.I didn't mean to-" I started.

"Oh, that's fine," she said brushing it off and sitting up. "You were confused." She gave me an amused smile.

I went to apologize again, it was only my second day in the house and I was already manhandling her, but before I could get the words to leave my mouth Bella started to talk.

"C'mon its time for you to wash up and for us go... hey are you crying? What's the matter Edward?" she inched closer, inspecting my face.

I wasn't aware of the wetness trailing down my cheeks until Bella wiped away the tears that collected in my eyes.

I looked away and saying something about the dust in the air, sniffing like I had a runny nose for good measure

I don't think she believed me.

"Where are we going?" I yawned, distracting her as I stretched my arms above my head, hearing the pops and cricks as I twisted.

"To find you a job remember?" she smiled and patted my cheek. "You sleep like the dead, its noon you know."

She was beet red as she stared up at me, I was about to ask why when I looked down at myself and saw what she saw, a naked torso and tight-fitting briefs with a woody poking against the seam to greet her.

I could not for the life of me understand why that hadn't deflated during that horrible recollection of a memory and cursed my body's stupid natural reactions.

I scooted away, trying to create some distance between us and ended up falling off of the pull-out. I shot right back up blushing and backing away from the couch.

"It's um, it's okay." she assured me. Bella stood up and tried to follow me, but I backed away again to widen the gap.

I mumbled an apology and felt my face and neck grow hotter as she asked me to repeat what I'd said, but even when I mumbled the second time she still couldn't hear my low words.

"It's okay, Edward. It happens." she offered. This time I just nodded in response and rushed to Quinn's bathroom to get ready.

It took me a good ten minutes to will my erection away without actively doing anything to it. I hadn't had any type of sexual urges in a while, I guess being homeless and hungry all the time put a big damper on ones libido. The embarrassment I felt kept me in the shower longer then I should have been, and Bella actually had to come to the door and politely told me to hurry the fuck up. I chose the dress shirt and slacks that I got from the thrift and left to the front door where Bella and Quinn were waiting patiently for me.

"Hey kid." I knelt on my knee so that me and Quinn were face level.

"Hi Edward." Quinn gave a dimpled grin as he rocked back and forth on his heels with his hands hidden behind his back.

"Wacha got there?" I asked eying him curiously.

"Hold out your arm."

I held out my arm to him and he tied a thin leather cord around my wrist, on the cord was a piece of green sea glass.

"I made it myself." He said proudly. "I found the sea glass on the beach yesterday, it's the same color as your eyes,see?" He pointed out the little flecks of gold that I guess could be found in my eyes as well.

"I only make them for people I care about. Mom has a blue one, Ali got pink one, and Caius has one too."

I looked up at Bella and she held out her wrist so I could see the dark blue piece of sea glass bound by a delicate black leather cord.

"Well thanks kid, that was really cool of you to make me one." Quinn saying that he cared about me made me realize that, as crazy as it sounds, over this incredibly short span of days I'd come to care for him too. Kids could get to you easily like that, but Quinn was something special. Somehow he seemed too mature for his young age, but it was impossible to call him an adult.

Quinn nodded and smiled again. "It's for good luck on your job hunting." he added.

I stood and mussed up his hair. "Hopefully it works right."

"Yea, it might not work right away but it will." he promised.

I made sure to lock the door behind me as Quinn waved goodbye to us.

"I wanted to see if I could get you a job here." Bella informed as we walked side by side down the hall to the elevator.

I nodded but my mind was elsewhere. I was a bit uneasy about leaving the kid all by himself, but Bella gave a small smile when I voiced my concerns.

"He's used to it," she sounded saddened by the fact that Quinn was so used to being home with out his mother there, but I understood that Bella's job was basically the only thing keeping them afloat.

"Besides," she continued. "We wont be gone that long. If he gets lonely he befriended half the hotel staff anyhow." Bella gave a little laugh as I followed her out of the elevator and into the lobby.

We breezed right past the rude receptionist from my first day to a hallway. The high beamed ceiling from the lobby transitioned into a lower groin vault ceiling with crystal chandelier's that brightly lighting every few feet you walked into the hall. We stopped in front of double mahogany doors, a glass name plate with the name _'Aro Volturi'_ sat buffed and shined in its place.

"Okay, Edward. Before we go in I have to tell you... Aro isn't the warmest guy on the planet, but I thought maybe he would help you out like he did with me and Quinn."

"I'll take whatever I can get." I answered honestly.

Hell I didn't care if I was stuck being room service, at least I would be employed.

Bella tentatively knocked against the wood, and fidgeted as she waited for an answer.

"Come in." said a soft voice.

The voice sounded papery thin, as if it had seen better years and was worn down from being used so much.

When we stepped into the expensively, black furnished office Aro ignored us completely,immersed in whatever he was filling out on his almost silent scratching of the pen against paper was the only sound in the room, beside mine and Aro's steady breathing. Bella didn't seem to be breathing at all as her eyes were cast downwards at the white carpet beneath our feet.

When it became clear that what was in front of the man was more important than his guest, I took it upon myself to alert him to our presence.

I gave a strong clearing of my throat, causing Bella to shoot me a worried glance. Aro however still didn't look up.

A full twenty minutes passed before Aro_ did_ finally looked up from his desk, and gave notice to our, or actually Bella's, presence.

"Miss Swan, to what do I owe this pleasure?" the man looked just like the one I'd met at the salon yesterday,only his hair dyed a shiny black that flowed freely about his shoulders and his Italian accent was nowhere near as thick.

"Good morning,Mr. Volturi. Sir if you don't mind I'd like to talk to you about something...?"

"And what would that be, Miss Swan?" Aro said, his gray eyes flickering to me and back again as he leaned back in his chair,steepling his long white fingers.

Bella seemed visibly nervous, and I could tell that this man intimidated her.

"Well I was wondering if you could... set my friend up with a job in the Hotel."

The man's facial expression didn't change from that of boredom as he gave a firm solid "No."

He stared Bella down, as if challenging her to dispute his decision, and to my surprise she did.

"With all do respect sir, you didn't even give him a chance." she said quietly, meeting his eyes for the first time.

"And explain to me Miss Swan, Why should I? I am running a business, not a charity. I do not know where you got this man from, I don't know what his educational status is, and more importantly whether he has criminal background." Aro says, staring at my scars distastefully.

"I can assure you that he doesn't." Bella stuck up her chin, answering on my behalf confidently.

She didn't anything about me, but just assumed that I didn't have a criminal background. If I did that could've gotten her in a lot of trouble, and if she keeps going on sticking up for me to her stuck up boss she could lose her job.

"Bella stop, Its fine." I reached for her arm and she stepped back out of my reach almost as if it were an involuntary response.

She opened her mouth as if to say something else but Aro cut her off.

"You'd better listen to him, because my patience is beginning to wear thin. My brother Marcus may be the one that made me hire you, but I'm the one that will ultimately fire you. "

Bella closed her mouth, no doubt thinking about what that would mean for Quinn.

"Will that be all Miss Swan?" Aro asked raising an eyebrow.

Bella held a barley concealed glare as she stared at her boss who looked down his nose at her

"Yes sir." she answered quietly.

"Wonderful, you may leave now."

* * *

The rest of the day went on in about the same fashion, every friend or connection that Bella brought me to argued that I couldn't be hired either because they simply didn't know my background or because I had no experience in the area that was available.

By this time Bella was red in the face with all of this arguing she tried to do for me at every single impromptu interview. I found it odd that Bella was more frustrated about this than I was.

I mean it wasn't that I didn't care, because I did care, immensely.I didn't have a job and I was bumming off of a young single mother and her child, I felt bad and I wanted to help them in any way I could because of the way they helped me out these last few days.

What I found it hard to wrap my head around though,was why Bella was so upset that she couldn't find someplace for me after offering her help.

"Bella why don't we just go home, it's nearly nine and I'm sure Quinn is probably worried sick about you." I tried to reason with her as we left the tenth place of the places that Bella had lined up for me.

"Just one more place Edward, I'm sure we can find you a job ther-" she was walking away so I reflexively grabbed her arm to stop her, and when I caught my grip she halted suddenly and slapped me square on my chest with an open palm. Most of the people in the parking lot glanced at us as if interested, but not enough to intervene.

We both flinched at the same time, and I stepped back and rubbed at the stinging sensation on my chest.

_'You fucking idiot, look what you did!'_ I chided myself. I was in no place to be doing that, maybe I grabbed her arm too tight or she was uncomfortable with me touching her. We were after all strangers to each other.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry." We blurted at the same time.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Bella, I shouldn't have." I apologized, running my fingers though my hair nervously.

What if she kicked me out because she felt I couldn't be trusted to keep my hands to myself?

_'She would have every right to.'_

So then why didn't this sudden feeling of dread didn't leave with the realization?

Bella shook her head, the hand she hit me with balled up tightly and hidden behind her as if she was afraid she'd do it again. "I do have something to be sorry for. I shouldn't have hit you like that it wasn't called for...just don't grab onto me like that, Edward. Especially when my back is turned to you, I act first before thinking no matter who it is so it has nothing to do with you. Just don't let it happen again." she said firmly.

I could tell that Bella was only sorry that she hit me, but the hard look she was giving told me that she wasn't going to apologize for what she was saying now.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. I wanted so badly to know why she had reacted so violently if it wasn't my fault, but again it wasn't my place to ask that of her so I kept my mouth shut.

"Lets go home." Bella finally sighed.

I gave Bella a wide berth as we continued on into the parking lot in search of her rusted red truck.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was mainly filler so I'm sorry if it was boring. I just wanted to make Edwards past revealed a little, and make you guys wonder about Bella's.

I so want to skip all the boring stuff and get to the gritty stuff, it's so hard since I have that stuff pre-written but I gotta do this first.

See you next update

Ciao

The Twi-Tard


End file.
